South Sudan expects first oil to arrive in Port Sudan mid-June
Wed May 29, 2013 7:10am EDT
* South Sudan, Sudan have resumed cross-border oil flows
* Sudan grants first licence to South Sudanese bank
By Ulf Laessing and Khalid Abdelaziz
KHARTOUM, May 29 (Reuters) - South Sudan expects its first oil to arrive in
Sudan's export port in mid-June as both countries are continuing to
implement oil and trade deals despite Khartoum's renewed accusations over
rebel support, Juba's ambassador to Sudan said.
The neighbours, which fought one of Africa's longest civil wars, agreed in
March to resume cross-border oil flows and end tensions plaguing them since
the south seceded in 2011.
South Sudan has started since then to pipe oil to two treatment plants in
Sudan to be readied for exports, the first time since the landlocked new
nation shut down its production of 350,000 barrels a day in January 2012 in
a row over export fees.
On Monday, Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir threatened to close the
export pipelines if South Sudan supported insurgents operating on Sudanese
soil, claims long denied by Juba.
But South Sudan's ambassador to Sudan, Mayan Dut Wol, said he was relaxed
about Bashir's speech, describing it as "emotional" outburst of the
president he has got used to since growing up in Khartoum.
"I am not shocked," said Wol in an interview. "We know the president, we
know him," he said, laughing.
He said bilateral meetings have been going on normally since the speech for
both sides to work out details on oil, trade and border security deals
signed in March.
"The oil is flowing... We expect it to arrive on the 13th, 14th or 15th in
Port Sudan," he said late on Tuesday, adding it would be loaded on vessels
around June 20.
The neighbours have fixed a technical problem at a pumping station at a
Sudanese export facility, which forced South Sudan last week to halve
production to 105,000 barrels a day, he said.
Oil is the lifeline for both countries struggling with high inflation,
weakening <
http://www.reuters.com/finance/currency> currencies and high
unemployment.
BANK DEAL
On trade cooperation, Sudan's central bank granted this week a first South
Sudanese bank - Juba-based Ivory Bank owned by local businessmen - a licence
to open a branch in Khartoum, Wol said. A central bank official confirmed
this.
Both countries also planned to increase direct flights with a third carrier
getting ready to operate, said Wol.
Around 41,000 South Sudanese, who were unable to afford air tickets, were
waiting in Sudan for both countries to reopen the land border to return
home, said Wol. The frontier was closed around the time of southern
secession in July 2011.
While praising bilateral ties, Wol switched one time during the interview to
a defiant tone to say he was not bothered at all if Sudan closed the
pipelines as threatened by Bashir.
"I want to say that our oil was not shut down by Sudan. We shut it down and
now it's one and a half years later and people are living," he said. "We can
survive without oil." (Editing by James Jukwey)
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U.N. Security Council boosts peacekeeping force in Abyei
UNITED NATIONS | Wed May 29, 2013 1:11pm EDT
(Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council approved on Wednesday an extra 1,126
troops for a U.N. peacekeeping force in the flashpoint Abyei region, claimed
by Sudan and South Sudan and a base for several armed groups.
The 15-member council extended for six months the mandate of the mission,
known as UNISFA, and boosted to 5,326 the number of troops, provided by
Ethiopia, in the province, prized for fertile land and oil reserves.
"The presence of armed groups inside the Safe Demilitarised Zone remains a
considerable security concern," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the
Security Council in a report that requested the increase in peacekeepers.
South Sudan split from its northern neighbor in 2011 under a 2005 peace deal
that ended decades of civil war. Like South Sudan, Abyei was meant to have
an independence referendum, agreed under the 2005 deal, but Sudan and South
Sudan have been unable to agree which tribal members should participate.
U.N. peacekeepers have been administering Abyei since Sudan seized it in May
2011 following an attack on a convoy of peacekeepers and Sudanese soldiers
which the United Nations blamed on southern forces. Khartoum later withdrew
its forces under a U.N. peace plan.
"Only a lasting solution to the final status of Abyei can end the recurring
cycle of violence," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, told
reporters on Wednesday.
Earlier this month the African Union called for Sudan and South Sudan to
find a solution on Abyei after a tribal leader and an Ethiopian peacekeeper
were killed.
Kuwal Deng Mayok, the chief of the Dinka tribe allied to South Sudan, was
killed by a member of the Misseriya tribe in Abyei claimed by Khartoum and
Juba. One Ethiopian peacekeeper and 15 Misseriya, who are allied to Sudan,
also died, according to the U.N. and the Misseriya.
The Dinka and the Arab Misseriya both call Abyei home.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Gregorio)
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Received on Thu May 30 2013 - 10:36:15 EDT